


I wished for this to never change

by midnightmillie



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: ALL THE FLUFF, Christmas Mileven, F/M, Fluff, Mileven opening presents, One Shot, and hot chocolate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-26 06:59:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17137157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midnightmillie/pseuds/midnightmillie
Summary: It's Mike and Eleven's first Christmas together and The Party's first peaceful Christmas since the events in the lab. Everyone's enjoying hot chocolate, cuddles and jokes, until Jim and Joyce Hopper announce that it's gift exchange time and the house drowns in chaos.





	I wished for this to never change

**Author's Note:**

> I’m someone's Secret Santa, so here it is, a Mileven Opening Gifts fanfic. It’s my first one, but know that I tried. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> This wouldn't have been possible without the amazing editing skills of: @transtozier and @lazycollectionofcoffee on tumblr, so thank you both SO. INSANELY. MUCH.

El Hopper was happy. To be completely fair, at this exact moment, she was the happiest she had ever been. Her feet were tucked in a furry blanket with beautiful reindeers and her hands were warming up from the cup of hot chocolate Joyce had given her. It had sprinkles, marshmallows, and whipped cream, and she was staring at it with a mix of adoration and hunger. But the best part of the picture was the boy she was resting her head on. Mike was sitting near on the couch, happily serving as her pillow, holding his own cup of hot chocolate. El had deprived him of the whipped cream, scooping a spoonful, as soon as Joyce had handed it to him. He was laughing at a something Dustin had said with his head tilted back and his eyes blissfully shut.

Taking her eyes off Mike, she looked around and her gaze landed on Max. El thought about how close she was with Mayfield now, a warm smile spreading on her face. Max was positioned between Dustin and Lucas on a beanbag on the floor in front of the fireplace. She was comfortably snuggled between the two boys, leaning just a bit towards Lucas. El kept scanning the room. Nancy and Jonathan were having a tickle fight under the Christmas tree next to them, filling the room with their own laughter and receiving ‘Get a room already!’ from Dustin every couple of minutes. Steve was trying to find a place for a beautifully handcrafted toy on the Christmas tree, when Robyn snuck up on him for what would have been the thousandth time, causing him to jump a few feet in the air and mutter "Get a hobby for once, Robyn!"

"My hobby is to cause you distress and you know you love it!" she bit back with a sarcastic smile.

El wasn't sure what was happening there, but then again, no one was. Everyone had just accepted the fact that Robyn and Steve just… worked well together without really being together. Some people considered it odd, but El had seen stranger things. Will was sitting on the floor in the center of the living room, with a boy that El had heard much about. When Will mentioned that he maybe likes Derek in the special way she liked Mike and that the poor guy was going to be alone on Christmas, El urged her brother to invite him over.‘Joyce wouldn't mind, and if my dad has a problem with it, he will have to go through my dead body first!’ she had exclaimed, ready to fight for her brother’s romantic interests until her last breath.

Her gaze drifted in the direction of the kitchen and she caught a glimpse of her father, spinning Joyce around to the rhythm of yet another Christmas tune. El wondered if she and Mike will look like that someday, if they already did? She closed her eyes and wished for the love to never leave her heart.

"Tired already?" she heard a low murmur coming from her right and opened her eyes slowly. Mike had leaned into her space, with a questioning expression on his face.

"Not at all, I was just wishing for something!" she whispered mysteriously and lifted herself enough to give him a kiss on the cheek. Jim Hopper chose this exact moment to enter the room.

"That’s enough, kiddos!" he barked, caring a chocolate-coated cake and the heavenly smell of gingerbread cookies from the tiny kitchen. Joyce Hopper was following him, her once carefully styled hair now a mess from all the baking and dancing. She was dusting off flour and sprinkles from the folds of her sparkling, black dress, but to El, she looked like one of the fairytale queens from the books anyways. The smile on Joyce’s face immediately lit up the room and caused everyone to drop whatever they were doing.  
Joyce waited a couple seconds, savoring the feeling of still having the power to make all the kids sit still and listen. She leaned in like they were toddlers, waiting for her to reveal a secret. Instead, she said the three magic words that made them squeal with excitement every Christmas.

“Time for presents!”

They all jumped in surprise, bumping and walking into each other as each found a place near the Christmas tree to kneel and read the first gift tag, they laid eyes upon. Not long after, a "Nance, that’s from me!" and "What did you get me, Robyn? A plunger?" started flying around the room.

Eleven thoroughly scanned all the boxes, wondering which one to pick first, when her gaze focused on a medium, circular package with a silver tag and a ribbon of the same color, positioned at the far end of the tree. She reached and took the box, noticing the unevenly cut pieces of wrapping paper at the edges. She shifted the gift tag between her fingers and a warm smile appeared on her face when it revealed her name in a familiar handwriting.

To El, From Mike.

Without looking up to catch his gaze, she pulled at the lid with ease and excitedly chucked it at the side, near the fireplace. Inside the box, a plush lion was waiting for El with the word ‘promise’ stitched on his marigold belly. It was soft and shiny, like the one she had in the lab, and she slowly took it out of the package with trembling fingers, as if she was afraid not to break it. She looked at the lion and caressed its mane, while memories from the past two years flashed through her mind like wildfire. The bad, the scary and the good that came after it. She constantly reminded herself how grateful she was, from the moment she came across the word in the dictionary, but it was never as overwhelming as it was right now.

How did he know? She had never told anyone about her life in the lab. A single tear rolled down her cheek and a pair of hands cradled her from behind. Next thing she knew, she was enveloped by Mike, who was whispering words of reassurance in her ear, while pulling her in his lap. One by one, everyone in the room joined the hug and soon enough, El was encapsulated by all the people she loved and cared about. That lasted for a couple minutes until Dustin complained about his spine being bent in an unnatural position. The hug disassembled, and they all found a place on the floor once more, eyes on El. 

"You all right? Did Wheeler get you something ugly?" Max demanded.

"No" El smiled at her, clutching the lion tight in one hand, and Mike’s hand in the other "It’s good. Really good."

Mike grinned, happy that he managed to give her back one of the many things Brenner took away from her. Later, he would tell her that she talks in her sleep and that she mentioned a lion a couple of times when he found her deep in slumber over his geometry book.

"I never opened your gift though." He muttered apologetically and stood up, approaching the massive pile of boxes once again. He started rearranging and looking through gift tags when finally, his name popped up on a neatly wrapped orange package. He picked it up and walked back in order to sit next to El, diving into an ungraceful unwrapping session, while everybody stared at him with anticipation. Once the packaging was thrown dangerously close to the fireplace an excited gasp filled the room.

"There is no way you got those!" Mike practically shouted, lifting a set of ‘The Legendary Evils’ DnD figurines in his hands. She beamed at him and watched, as he took the miniatures out of the box and placed them in a row on the wooden floor. Dustin, Lucas, and Max excitedly crossed the room and squeezed between Mike and Steve, each taking a monster and admiring the details.

"No, seriously, where did you get these from? I have never seen them around before!" Mike questioned.

"Pure luck, really" El retorted, satisfied with his reaction.

"Pure luck bullshit, kid." Hopper grunted "We drove nearly three-hundred miles and went to at least fifty stores before she got her hands on that specific set, and she bargained for it. It was the last one and the poor guy at the store was saving it for someone else."

"Wow" Mike was staring at the now empty box in his hands wide-eyed "Thanks, El" he wrapped an arm around her and squeezed her tightly. Despite the beautifully wrapped boxes and the gift tags and even the incredible DnD set, he was most thankful to have her and Will back from the Upside Down, where they were safe and sound. He looked around the room. There were Dustin, Lucas and Max already plotting campaigns around the new monsters, Jonathan, Nancy, Robyn and Steve showing each other what they got for Christmas. Hopper and Joyce were snuggled together on the far end of the room, waiting for everyone to finish with the presents so they could cut the cake. Then there was the couch, with Mike and El’s mugs of hot chocolate and the abandoned reindeer blanket. He turned to his girlfriend just to see that she was thinking the same. He stretched a hand and helped her up, carefully making his way around gift boxes and slippery ribbons, until they reached the couch, taking their previous comfortable positions.

"What were you wishing for earlier?" he asked when she laid her head on his shoulder and took a sip from her hot chocolate.  
"Honest? I wished for this to never change."


End file.
